Media Coverage

Multimatic Motorsports / Miller Racing Heads West With High Hopes

April 30th, 2015 – Courtesy of Miller Racing– The Multimatic Motorsports / Miller Racing team is heading to California’s historic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for this weekend’s third round of the 2015 IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) on Saturday, May 2.

The team has high hopes to do well at the iconic 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit, one of the drivers’ favorites, and to improve on some of the misfortunes that have befallen the team in the season’s early races. Some welcome assistance has come from IMSA’s rules makers, who have made Balance of Performance adjustments to the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.Rs consisting of a 75-pound weight addition and a 3mm air restrictor decrease. These changes should help to equalize the performance between them and the Multimatic/Miller Ford Mustang Boss 302Rs.

Following Round 2 at Florida’s Sebring International Raceway on March 20, Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson are tied for fifth in the drivers’ championship in their No. 15 Mustang, with Jade Buford and Austin Cindric tied for seventh in the sister No. 158. In the team championship, the No. 15 currently lies in seventh place with the No. 158 in ninth.

All four drivers are looking forward to the weekend’s race and anxious to get back to work, but still wary of the competition.

“Laguna Seca is one of my favorite tracks,” said Maxwell, “and we are always fast there… poles, laps led, etc., but we’ve probably had more bad luck and bad breaks (and damage!) in the races there than any other track! Billy and I really want to get our first proper finish this weekend, and I think we will be right in the hunt with the Multimatic/Miller Ford Mustangs.”

I love Laguna Seca,” said Johnson. “I would consider it my home track, since I took my first racing school there and coached at the school there for years. It’s a great area and an amazing track, but unfortunately the Mustang has just never had very good success there. I’m sure the recent BOP changes will slow the Camaros down a little, but I think the unchanged Nissans, Astons and Porsches will continue to show speed. It’s looking like it will be an uphill battle for us until the following race at Watkins Glen, where I think we will be competitive.”

“I’m looking forward to our race at Laguna and performing to the best of our ability,” said Buford. “As a driver, it is by far one of the more challenging and exciting races of the year, and it is a track that I have had a good bit of success at in the past. Hopefully Austin and I will be able to achieve a positive result.”

“Out of all the tracks we run this season, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca has to be one of my favorites,” said Cindric. “I have had lots of success there in the past, and with more time in the car through races and testing, our chances for a great weekend are better than ever. I can’t wait to get started!”

Activities get underway on Friday with two 45-minute practice sessions and a 15-minute qualifying session. The 2.5-hour race is scheduled to take the green flag at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

In the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race on Sunday, longtime Miller Racing driver Ian James will be representing Miller Racing team sponsors Total Care Auto and 888DropMyRate in the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America in the GTD class. Coming off a class win in the previous race at Sebring International Raceway, he’s looking for more of the same at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

“After our big win at Sebring,” James said, “we hope to repeat the performance at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It was a thrill to represent Total Auto Care and 888DropMyRate on the podium, and I’m hopeful we can get them there again this weekend.”

The TUDOR series will have two hours of practice on Friday, with another hour of practice and qualifying on Saturday. Their race is scheduled for 4:05 pm ET on Sunday.

Live streaming and timing and scoring from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be available at www.IMSA.com. The CTSCC race will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on Fox Sports 1 at 9:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday, May 17, and the TUDOR race will be live on Fox Sports 1 at 4:00 pm EDT on Sunday, May. 3. IMSA offers mobile apps for both iPhone and Android platforms, available at Google Play and the App Store, respectively, which also provide live timing and scoring among other features.